US doomed to move from one bubble to another

[Captain Morgan]

We've all become a society of "must have now, must buy with credit things we can't really afford, etc." This entire country, including our government, needs to change it's thought process, start trimming down expenses and start getting out of debt. But we all know that won't happen.

[Homeslice]

Originally Posted by goof2

Rajan says I don't have the skills necessary in the global internet.

You might have skills, but the jobs are going overseas. To me it seems like this country is devolving into a bi-polar economy where on the one side you have a bunch of top managers, CEOs, traders, or investors making 7 figures, and everyone else works at a restaurant or retail store. With barely anyone else able to make an honest living. Because let's face it, if you don't actually need to be here in the US to do your job, like a nurse or cop or something like that, then it's going to be offshored if there's a cost advantage.

And this will continue, until the American standard of living declines to match that of the countries we offshore jobs to. Meanwhile, the richest 1% of America (including movie stars, athletes, and the people who own/lead the companies that are offshoring jobs) will take a bigger and bigger share of the wealth away from the middle & lower classes.

[goof2]

Originally Posted by Homeslice

You might have skills, but the jobs are going overseas. To me it seems like this country is devolving into a bi-polar economy where on the one side you have a bunch of top managers, CEOs, traders, or investors making 7 figures, and everyone else works at a restaurant or retail store. With barely anyone else able to make an honest living. Because let's face it, if you don't actually need to be here in the US to do your job, like a nurse or cop or something like that, then it's going to be offshored if there's a cost advantage.

And this will continue, until the American standard of living declines to match that of the countries we offshore jobs to. Meanwhile, the richest 1% of America (including movie stars, athletes, and the people who own/lead the companies that are offshoring jobs) will take a bigger and bigger share of the wealth away from the middle & lower classes.

That was a joke, and apparently not a very good one.

I understand what you are saying and it is a concept that seems to be pretty popular, but I just don't see it around me. Practically everyone I know is in that middle. The people I know who are at the bottom of that middle chose a career that is well known for lower pay, teaching. I suspect the same holds true for your circle of friends. I'm guessing the majority of the membership here at TWF is made up of that middle. It is hard for me to believe the whole "the middle class is disappearing" thing when I am constantly surrounded by the opposite.

[Homeslice]

Originally Posted by goof2

That was a joke, and apparently not a very good one.

I understand what you are saying and it is a concept that seems to be pretty popular, but I just don't see it around me. Practically everyone I know is in that middle. The people I know who are at the bottom of that middle chose a career that is well known for lower pay, teaching. I suspect the same holds true for your circle of friends. I'm guessing the majority of the membership here at TWF is made up of that middle. It is hard for me to believe the whole "the middle class is disappearing" thing when I am constantly surrounded by the opposite.

I didn't say the middle was disappearing, I just said that the rich are taking a bigger and bigger share of the country's net worth. Why, because of wage pressure on the working masses. Wage pressure driven by illegal immigrants, green card engineers imported here to work for less, and of course all the offshored jobs.

[goof2]

Originally Posted by Homeslice

I didn't say the middle was disappearing, I just said that the rich are taking a bigger and bigger share of the country's net worth. Why, because of wage pressure on the working masses. Wage pressure driven by illegal immigrants, green card engineers imported here to work for less, and of course all the offshored jobs.

Your statements everyone except the rich working in restaurants or retail, barely anyone else able to make an honest living, and our standard of living declining to match offshoring countries all led me to the conclusion that you believe the middle is disappearing. Stating that it seems we are evolving in to a bi-polar economy relies on the idea that there will be no middle.

Call it what you will but either way what you describe is a popular idea, but not one I have seen occurring very often. Most of the jobs I have seen shipped overseas aren't ones requiring a skilled middle class. While some of these jobs do pay middle to upper-middle class wages, the pay is typically out of sync with the skills required for the job.

Probably the best example I'm aware of is auto manufacturing. How much skill does it really take to repetitively bolt a couple pieces to cars passing by a station on an assembly line? My guess is not much. Do manufacturers have to pay an average loaded hourly rate of somewhere around $70 to find people capable of doing that work? Again, I would guess not. That being the case, the manufacturers are going to start looking to places where they can pay someone at a rate more commensurate to the skill required for the job. Jobs that pay a lot while requiring little in the way of skill are pretty uncommon though so the losses should be restricted.

[Homeslice]

I hear you on manufacturing jobs being overpaid....... but I was talking about jobs like engineers, accountants, programmers, etc. Those have been moving overseas for quite some time. Hell, the day may come when your doctor is in India, and just does a video-conference instead of seeing you in person.

[KSGregman]

Originally Posted by Captain Morgan

We've all become a society of "must have now, must buy with credit things we can't really afford, etc." This entire country, including our government, needs to change it's thought process, start trimming down expenses and start getting out of debt. But we all know that won't happen.

All true...and even when people DO try to do the sensible thing, that is, not spend money the country doesn't have, people STILL bitch....just saying...

http://www.twowheelfix.com/showthread.php?t=16944